National Geographic, December, 1959
city. The Urals resemble our own Catskills
much more than the Rockies, and Sverdlovsk
is located in gently rolling country, none of it
more than 1,000 feet above sea level.
It is the mineral wealth of these mountains,
though, that gave Sverdlovsk its start back in
1723 and that has made it into a teeming,
smoky city of nearly 800,000 today. It is a
center for the processing of iron. copper, tung
sten, platinum, gold, and asbestos, and one
of the leading Soviet armament centers.
Log Houses Line Sverdlovsk Streets
We were again greeted by enthusiastic
crowds at the airport, and cheering groups
were scattered all along our nine-mile route
into town.
Much of the countryside is covered with
well-tended pine forest, and most of the
cleared land is planted in potatoes. Almost
all the houses are log built, but nearly every
window displayed its pots of geraniums and
nasturtiums (page 734). Even in the city
itself most of the houses are built of logs.
Our first full day in Sverdlovsk was a typi
cally busy one. We drove over rolling coun
tryside to Pervoural'sk. where we toured a
tube-rolling mill, one of the largest in the
Soviet Union. There I was once again struck
by the number of women at work and by the
inevitable posters which covered nearly every
square inch of wall space, urging workers to
produce more, reminding them that only Com
munism can lead them to a better life, ad
monishing them to avoid accidents.
This last warning was certainly necessary.
Safety standards in that plant. as in all I
visited, were far below those of American fac
tories. Workers drawing hot metal wore no
goggles, machine belts were unprotected, and
men stacking heavy pigs of metal had no
safety shoes.
The young manager seemed to be typi
cal of middle-level Soviet executives; he had
started as a worker, studied at night. and fi
nally worked up through the ranks. He had
"It's Hie-the American Visitor!"
Country Folk Meet Nixon at a Frontier
i'rom Sverdlovsk the Vice President took
an 80-mile motor trip through the LTral
Mountains. Children along the road cried.
"Nixon! Nixon"
At a boundary stone
marked "Europe. Asia." he greeted welcom
ers and sipped champagne with them at
tables set in a grove.
spent a year in America. 10 years ago. inspect
ing material and heavy equipment later pur
chased by the Soviet Union.
iMuch of the equipment was old-fashioned
by American standards, and there was little
evidence of automation. But one of our In
tourist girls, an interpreter assigned to the
press corps. had never seen a steel mill and
was convinced that this must be the last word.
"I'm sure you don't have anything like that
in America."
she said proudly to one of the
American newsmen.
"Not any more," he answered, and left her
looking very puzzled indeed.
But let us make no mistake about it. \e
may today be well ahead of the Soviet Union
in automation, plant capacity, and capital
equipment. but they are making an almost su
perhuman effort to catch up, and even surpass
us. They are dead serious about their goals.
740